Mark R. Levin writes a companion for those who like, as do I, historical perspective on the events past, present, with an eye toward dissecting events effecting local, national and international news. In view of what has become outspoken rhetoric by President Trump who openly calls the news media as less than honest and fosters the hate and evilness birthed as FAKE NEWS. (I prefer TAINTED NEWS).

My book reviews I have penned in the past mostly concern the game of chess. This book which was recommended to me found me going to Barnes & Nobel where I located the book among many that the author has penned. I was not disappointed and a most welcome addition to my political shelf and another Simon and Schuster five star book.

The softcover book intrigued me! The author draws astounding parallels to the Obama era’s utopian ideals from Plato’s Republic, Thomas More’s Utopia and Marx’s Communist Manifesto, critical writings of John Locke and philosophical pioneer works by Charles Montesquieu, Alexis de Tocqueville collectively diagnosing the nature of man and government. It comes close to a burial of utopian idealism.

Adam Smith wrote THE THEORY OF MORAL SENTIMENTS, 1759, describing the man of system. “He is apt to be very wise in his own conceit, and is often so enamored with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it. He goes on to establish it completely and in all its parts, without regard either to the great interests or strong prejudices which may oppose it. He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess board.”

This keen observation of modern man in the seat as bureaucrat, elected officeholder, etc. can relate to all who serve because human nature is what it is. Mark Levin has answered the warning put forth by President Ronald Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” But perhaps more exacting in the total of Ameritopic is what President Lincoln’s address in 1838: “At what point….is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us, it must spring up among us…we must be the author and finisher.”

My good friend Tom McKellop, a very strong amateur is a big fan of correspondence chess. He asked me about 1. e4 and 1. d4 as starting a game based on my square count idea for planning opening play from the very first move. That question is sort of universal among both amateur and professional players. Much depends upon individual style, the opponent, and energy level for a good fight. For an example of 1.d4, lets take a gander at a recent game between Grandmasters. I chose this one because the themes seen for both sides bring about dynamic positions which might be common as an example evolving out of ….

l. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 The Nimzo-Indian is a good choice. Years ago, common place was the standard QGD which seems to give White a slight edge after 3…d5 4.c:d5 e:d5 5. Bg5 which has always been a favorite approach of mine.

4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 This idea was a favorite of the Yugoslav GM Gligoric which dates the move opening popularity. It was also a favorite of GM Reshevsky who won a match with Miguel Najdorf for the Western Hemisphere World Championship title in1951 and successfully defended it against Gligoric among others.

8. c:d5 e:d5 9. a3 Bd6 10. b4! The problem for Black is how to deploy forces to counter the space edge White achieves. Another idea is 10. Ne5 although it is too committal maybe.

10. …Nbd7 11. Qb3 a6 12. a4 Qe7 Partially restoring a s/c balance. Another thought is 12…Re8 maybe with a swing of the Knight to the Kingside via Nf8 now that the f8 square is open.

Here the position is dangerous. 13. Rb1 c6 To stop b5 isolating the d-pawn. But here a strategic mistake would be Ne4 because 14. N:d5 B:d5 15.Q:d5 Nc3 16. Qb3 N:b1 17. Q:b1 h6 18. b5! a:b5 19. a:b5 and despite the Exchange, White’s control and power play is hard to match.

In openings where 1.e4 is played, I usually recommend 1…e5 but 1….e6 or 1…Nc6, 1…Nf6 I find are sharp if you are playing for a win even if risky. Solid booked players may go for one of the Sicilian Defense lines but poses a White lst move advantage with choices of obtaining attacking gambit play such as the Wing or Morra Gambit. The positional slow Giuoco Piano is very popular as is the Scotch Opening or even the Evans Gambit. So, if you are not booked up on at least the basic moves and plans, I would advise 1.d4 over 1.e4. Also, a new twist is called the Dunst Opening 1.Nc3 followed by 2. d4 or playing it as an alternative after 1. d4.

For the adventurer, I sometimes start with either 1. e3 or 1. c3 both which avoid book openings for students. That helps to avoid clever traps.

Donald J. Trump is first of all a quality father and husband who works hard and more, he achieves success because he sets his sights high for accomplishing his goal which is to make Americans once more achieving as citizens and green card holders a sense of value and freedom to achieve their dreams for a better and honorable U.S.A. It is a far cry from the past eight years of blaming America for a good many of the world’s problems. But it was more! It was the undercurrent of altering the United States from a true republic to one of democratically organized liberal socialism; the American voters rejected this sell out, set forth from the progressive movement and branch of communist dictatorship recognized as the former Soviet Union of Socialist Republics (USSR), a pre-world war international struggle to control whole populations within the block of countries.

The citizens who voted for Donald J. Trump did so (as I did) to save our national heritage from being undermined by the radical left in America. We voted for change and to remedy the continuous patter seen coming from the liberal news media. They, like the democrat party seen as 100 per cent socialist, and which I labeled long ago with clarity where few, if any, are brave enough to acknowledge as a danger to our way of life. For the party has marked itself in the camp of beliefs that were largely derived from the communist system under Stalin–the Progressive Movement embracing it’s concepts. Thus, abortions on demand under Stalin was recognized as harmful to it’s populations within it’s borders and corrected. But not in America which adopted it and I commented on it in an earlier article by the Kindred Spirit. Even Stalin came to recognize the evilness of it’s concept. No; I refuse to call it by name because it deserves to be caste on the garbage pile of history. Even today there goes on a battle about health care of women for which exists appropriate help for females outside the socialist agenda. It boils down to valid arguments which seem to fester hateful arguments from both sides. The sad thing is that politicians have used it to their advantage which often rests with the local and state governments. But this does nothing but tosses the ball in the opponent’s court, leaving the wounds to ever fester. And that is so true of governmental history. And finally as a last straw, American voters realized the crookedness of years of democratic controlled cities and states dominated by one party and the liberal system set up called labor unions who worried more about control than honest government and fixing years of city decay amid empty promises. Simply put: American voters wanted action and change of poor leadership across the board.

Finally I have to comment on the mess created by left-wing, right-wing, and agitators seen in both quarters. Somehow we have characterized the history as transitory of our founding fathers from the slavery of our earliest days to that of economic infighting prior and into the Civil War. People have to realize that America was not really thought of as a country so much as a band of states and states’ interests. Basically we were nationally prone to a type of isolationism. Arguments that spurred the Civil War was not directly about slavery although it was a very popular subject from the days our nation was founded. It was perhaps a catalyst that spurred the South who depended on the movement of goods along rivers and ports and hot cotton fields where whites likely were unable to function in the hot fields as pickers of cotton. The north controlled the economic mainstream of commerce. There became a fundamental and inability for government to solve the issues of rural versus manufacturing entities. The two clashed based entirely on states’ rights and needs. Consequently as the states in the South withdrew from the nation which it had every right to do, and Southerners who had been West Point military officer and candidates had to choose sides and most turned to their homeland South as volunteers. The Southern man and woman have always been very proud so it was natural for them to side with Southern interests.

One of the politicians noted recently that General Lee was a traitor. Not so. The fact is that he was offered the northern command but he elected to return to his loved South and was duly named as commander of all Southern forces. He was joined by many of his Southern fellow officers, all of whom were quality warriors. They did not consider themselves as traitors but rather defenders of what they saw as a just cause. The fact is that most on both sides thought the war would be short lived and certainly not as bloody as it materialized.

Thus, I now turn to history. Perhaps the biggest argument for justification of finding many statues devoted to Southern officers was the battlefield history and or one who played a key role in battles fought in those locations often gotten through bravery in battle regardless the result. You have to remember that these statues represented heroism of both sides as all combatants were considered American patriots just representing locals and states. Who, of northern officers, would attract the Southerner to visit landmarks or really care about any but the Southern forces in most cases. Go South and you find the South is still fighting the war between the states. Many really do not like the North all that much because of the memories of that awful time of death and destruction reaped on the South by carpetbaggers, etc.

And what is the leftist philosophy going to attack next? Our other founding fathers like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, our forty-three other Presidents who I am sure have human flaws like all of the human race. Are we to give these ignorant souls a voice to destroy the fabric of our Nation?? Apparently my next paragraph spells it out.

Am I proud of Americans who flaunt Donald Trump’s effort to build bridges among factions? Not me you louses of CEOs who chime together in a state of indignation because you don’t know history and you care only about the bottom line and not what is right and just. Most of these agitators do not even know much about what the damn fighting and war was even about!! You can thank the American education system for that. And the dame who destroyed the statue in the park seen on TV was not even an American but some foreign intruder as I heard about on the TV. Toss the noncitizen in jail for a long term and then kick her out of the country. For those CEOs, I have no respect for any.

The real purpose of this democratic-republican led team was meant to destroy or block the efforts of the Trump Administration to further meet the needs of government. These politicians have no idea what to do and their stupidity in both camps found President Trump in a state of confusion because the Republicans spent 8-long years kicking the ball as do all politicians with promises of a fix of our bloated health care system. And the democrats are enemies of America. They prove that with their behavior. Horrific!!!!

You see folks where I stand. I do not condone dishonesty in any form; do you? If you do, then please don’t read my writings. I hate the thought of you blowing a fuse. I can’t stand more than one explosion at a time. And I can’t stand ignorance as an excuse for a look at history in all it’s judgment calls in problem solving. Let freedom ring loud and clear forever on the waves to our shores.

The Progressive Movement one might say is a classic example of HOW TO DESTROY AMERICAN THOUGHT. What is American thought? You have to return to the Founding Fathers and their varied views about current events of that time. It would be wrong to even suggest that there was general agreement on the issues of the day from what I see in the halls of debate.

Where did these men come down on such discussions about slavery, taxation, the British sense of English colonial rights of representation in British Parliament? And what about the boarding of troops in colonial homes?

Well, we learned a lot and then again did we? Regarding slavery which was a world-wide practice tolerated in the colonies, just where did our Founding Fathers who framed the Constitution and governmental beliefs of signees stand? History says it was debated among the body both pro and con of allowing slavery to exist. There were good slave owners and bad ones to be sure. But compromise, that often looked upon as a necessary evil of government in order for laws to be enacted was to become a Pandora’s Box so-to-speak. Time will remedy all things unclean in our body politic. Really?

Well–fast forward to today. Our history shows that slavery was outlawed eventually even though there are forms of slavery that exists in the dark world of criminal behavior of various kinds. It still exists legally in some foreign lands. We saw the integration of our schools and military and our own civil war that led to the creation of a nationalist view with political debates within territories and states’ rights and western development of a rich historical story that became a fabric of our national heritage. It was just one element that created the American character that for over a century was built on freedom to practice of a strong cemented religious belief structure that embraced tolerance if not total acceptance. What happened?

A progressive movement initiated by Woodrow Wilson and championed by the liberal establishment many years since came to challenge the fundamental beliefs of conservative thought. Liberals could not win the debate with conservatives so it became a war of half-truths and outright distortion of our history. It became an assault on our education with liberal rewriting of American history slanted ever more toward the progressive standard. There was no longer something to debate. As far as liberals were concerned, conservative thought was poison to their ideology.

What has come out of all this is a sense of hatred of thought, of those who differ in any respect, an acceptance of long held religious beliefs within Biblical teachings being attacked as bigotry and intolerance. There is no place in the modern world for Bible teaching, priests, ministers, chaplains. Sin has become a taboo word as has the devil, Satan and his fallen angels. Today the modern man and woman and child find direction based only upon what feels good. Hence, there is no God, no Son, no sin…don’t you know it is just a fallacy that wise men and teachers today have freed the world from itself??? That Church has become nothing more than a place for entertainment, parties, communal get-to-gathers to enjoy brotherhood. Of course that is what progressive liberals want you to believe.

I say believe in our Lord, Jesus to come again, evil to be exposed and destroyed. Faith is the bulwark of living water. Remember this: we all have a soul that needs nourishing for truth and God’s blessing. And that starts with prayer. Jesus taught us all to and how to pray. It is in your Bible. God bless freedom and seek wisdom that starts with Biblical teachings and lessons.

Saturday last Donald J. Trump spoke as a President should–to calm the hostilities pure and simple. But it appears no matter the content of his discussion and message, the news media outlets, especially MSNBC and liberals who make up part of talk FOX, launched vicious attack after attack on what was a very good Presidential speech meant to calm the waters of hatred. These attacks are simply disguises aimed at undercutting the efforts to fulfill the President’s agenda with cloudy dustings. Reminds me of the old saying: If at first you don’t succeed, then try and try again and in total the American people are being shafted along with Donald J. Trump. The liberal agenda is to keep Washington, DC in a progressive socialist mode where the goal is to assure that the peons are cared for from birth to the grave. And that grave is being polluted as well.

Much has been written on the movement called “Black Lives Matter”.

There is no point to merely report on what is print without posing this observation based entirely upon FACT. This area is often greased over where the commentary hence is fraud. Yet, time and again, errors whether they be intentional or not, give the reader misinformation and dribbled out as fact. A case in point is the police shooting of Michael Brown, a known neighborhood bully who projected it when he attacked the store owner who accused him of shoplifting cigars. The liberal slant on all this is to simply say: so what???! This episode eventually led to a shooting and death of Michael Brown. I reported on this when the news was fresh.

This really gave birth to the “Black Lives Matter Movement. The above event was labeled intentionally by the liberal media and carried perhaps world-wide as a sign of police overreach and featured as a prime example of police brutality which the liberal press once again exaggerated with the statement that “racist police officers are the greatest threat facing young black men today.” (This, by the way, is exactly how the communist party socialist brand of fanning the flames of discontent operated in the 1930s-40s in America.) To put it point blank: the liberals learned from the socialist communism and Nazis parties just how to create confusion and misinformation in our own era. And as I have warned, they infiltrated the college campuses and total education system of America.

Do I give the wrong impression of what liberal behavior has become in America? Liberals from the very beginning sought fancy slogans that suggested the wonder values seen coming out of the PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT. The agenda often reflects socialist or communist ideologies and the term “progressive” has come to mean improvement over the old. Again, we need only look at President Wilson and other presidents after him to see how the Congress of the United States has swallowed the whole of socialized baloney. Most certainly the bureaucrats embrace it. And anyone who runs contrary to all this is cast as undesirable to serve in government.

“Look on the bright side!” is like saying –what exactly?! There are twenty-four hours in a day and realistically speaking, one can say that it is visibly seen as light and darkness where the time clock is measured in part with location. For what distance shows us is that the map of life runs parallel with the whole cycle of our existence and positive outlook.

Take the Bible for example as representative of a challenge. It was for a different time some say but it is a history of mankind and human and religious structure of belief. It reflects the thought that we in all honesty can envision that “Look on the bright side.” …seeing a spirit that governs thought and the human mind. We have the Bible and on the other hand, we have everything else. But what questions can our wisdom, such as it is, behold? The writers of the Bible addressed the very nature of the fundamentals of life. It also points out some attempt to raise and answer questions to where we came from, where are we headed, our survival, our personal relationship with the Holy Father in Heaven. These issue questions were given through stories, sermons, songs, poems, and visions. But the ultimate redemption of evil and sin is God so loved the world that he brought forth his only Son to bear the sins of the world upon himself. What greater love is shown than to lay down one’s life for his flock? It is seen time and again as witness of brave souls throughout history. Jesus made the sacrifice, not for man or woman or idea but for the whole spirit of the human race —The way to eternal salvation. And a direct line exists with God through prayer!!

Garfield studies the aimless and puzzling look on Jon’s face and hearing Jon’s sigh with “I need to become the man that Liz deserves…Garfield thinks (Technically speaking, that would be another man.)

Blondie and Dagwood are relaxing in their living room and Blondie reading the newspaper says: “Amazon may soon be delivering orders in 30 minutes or less using drones!” Dagwood replies, “I know…I read that, too. Wouldn’t that be amazing if someone discovered a way to deliver pizza?”

The Office Staff: “If you need me, I will be at my desk pretending to work.” Secretary responds.. “How long do you think you can get away with that?” which brought the response, “I wondered that same thing for the first fifteen years or so, ago!”

Shoe: A traveler stops for gas. “I had a devil of a time getting here!” The attendant says, “What route did you come on?” The driver says, “Route 666.”

What do you call politicians who live on multi-million dollar landscapes and personal residence of great wealth so they can avoid living within poor neighborhoods and with the so-called “TRASH”–those very souls they purport to hold their interests?!

Dad and Mom always taught us that the character worth of neighbors did not depend upon how wealthy they were but rather on the goodness and dependability, earnest effort and work. Mom would send me out to clean and rake the yard especially next to the sidewalk, sweeping up the odd ends like cigarette butts, candy wrappers, etc. that landed on our property. We had pride in our home and street we lived on. We kept it that way!

Today, when I saw Maxine Waters waving her arms and bitching about this and that that degraded the spirit of America and her so-called pledge to defend American ideals, it came to near throwing up my breakfast. Such ignorance can’t be forgiven after what she was able to accomplish through the voting box. QUEEN WATERS!!!!! Dumb and double-dumb!! An ignorant soul. What other description is there???

When are Americans going to tell the leftists to go live in Russia or China or Cuba where they can enjoy the life of communism and socialism to the full. Just leave we Americans alone to practice our livelihoods, our education, improving our existence free of intolerance and bigotry. GET THE NEXT BOAT OUT IF YOU WANT. But don’t expect we Americans to pay for your tickets or ever welcome you back to reap the rewards of what it means to be American in spirit.

It is sometimes best to avoid conflict today. Don’t assume that your honest feelings, thoughts and drives will automatically cause a problem. While you consider such a thought that it best to avoid conflicts of any kind, remember that you have good grounds to stand on in any debate or sharing concern.

The benefits of having a hobby or two often climaxes when someone has to lay down the law. Only those who have worked hard will ever really see the benefits of having dues paid up-to-date.

Blondie and Dagwood meet the mail incoming. Whoa! That is your new scooter bike? Ain’t it a beaut!! Impressive! Got to get going… ROLLIN ON, ROLLIN ON–KEEPS THOSE MAIL BAGS FLOWIN!! HONK-HONK!

Hagar is in one of his restless moods for adventure. I feel restless, Helga; I got to go on a RAID! You do that, dear –but not in my kitchen!

Beetle Bailey soon discovers that it’s not smart to sit in a barbershop chair with a barber who doesn’t share like moods when it comes to arguments about teams the barber favors. Thankfully the one in the chair at the time was buddie KILLER.

A family Circus sees mom fixing jelly sandwiches for her two pests. I know bees make honey says the older. But what kind of bugs make jelly?